Anxious family and friends raised the alarm when they found no sign of life at Tower Farm on the evening of May 14 last year.

Police found Mr Ashton's body in the blood-splattered kitchen during the early hours of the following morning. The body of Mrs Davies was eventually discovered under the silage in the shippon.

The house, which comes with 65 acres of rolling grassland, is now up for sale with agents Strutt and Parker.

It has been valued at &#xA3;447,000. And interest has been so intense, potential buyers have been asked to lodge their best and final offers in sealed envelopes, which will be opened at noon on Friday.

A Strutt and Parker spokeswoman said: "We have had a tremendous amount of interest and have had several offers for the property.

"So we moved to a best and final offer, with sealed bids being opened on Friday. So far we have had seven but there is still time and we are expecting there to be more by Friday.

"We will then pass the bids on to the client and let the client decide which one to accept.

"It has only been on the market for about six weeks so this is going to be a quick sale."

The spokeswoman added: "The majority of the interest has been from around the local area so people do know what happened. And we are obliged to tell anyone who asks.

"When people go and have a look around the house, we do mention it."

Cartwright, of Wolverhampton, claimed Mrs Davies and Mr Ashton were "having a go" at him.

He killed them both with a lock knife bought earlier that day.

The court was told he stabbed Mrs Davies twice in the neck in the shippon of Tower Farm, hiding her body under silage and hay.

Cartwright returned to the farmhouse and attacked Mr Ashton. He became increasingly angry as the pensioner fought back and eventually stabbed him 18 times.

He then fled the murder scene and drove off in Mr Ashton's red Skoda before being arrested in Wolverhampton.

Mrs Davies had lived at Tower Farm since 1956 and it has not been lived in since her death. Mr Ashton was from Warrington.